Something to Root For.

It's Friday -- we don't have to get heavy

Thanks for reading The Dope.

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There’s a great thing going on in Cleveland’s spring training camp. It is an experiment with an uncertain ending, and the history surrounding it says it’ll probably go south at some point — but it’s something random to root for, and we all need that, don’t we?

The Guardians are trying to figure out whether an outfielder can pitch. That’s not unusual — bringing in a position player to finish a blowout loss isn’t uncommon at all in MLB — but in this case, the scale is different. Tyler Naquin has already had his MLB career as an outfielder; he played eight seasons in all, the first five of them in Cleveland.

Naquin is now 33. He is attempting not so much a comeback as a second full MLB career, only this time as a pitcher. And the Guardians think he might be on to something, so on Thursday they made it public that they’ve signed Naquin to a minor-league contract to, you know, check out the kid.

“The stuff out of (his) hand is really interesting, so there's a lot of excitement to pair with a really good athlete,” said Stephen Osterer, the franchise’s VP of player development. “There’s the upside view of what that could look like down the road.”

Whoa, baby — word salad alert. But Osterer just meant that Naquin, who was stronger-armed than league-average outfielders during Career I, appears to have some nice movement on his pitches. A competent coaching staff could make use of that.

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Naquin’s case isn’t unique, but if he somehow makes it all the way to the majors after converting from position player to pitcher at age 33, he’ll be part of an awfully tiny group. Many have attempted, and many have failed. Just last year, Charlie Culberson tried to make a second career on the mound after spending more than a decade in the big leagues as an infielder. The Braves took a look but cut him in camp, and Culberson retired later in the year.

Another factor: For the most part, the people we’ve seen pull off this role-switch successfully are converted early in their professional careers, when they’re still in the minor leagues. There are a few standout examples.

Sean Doolittle was a first-round pick by the A’s in 2007, and the first baseman was really good — ranked as a Top 10 prospect for the franchise by Baseball America at one point. But after series of injuries (knee, wrist, etc.) cost him two full seasons and stripped him of his hitting power, Doolittle converted to the pitcher’s mound near the end of 2011. He made his MLB debut less than a year later and never looked back, becoming an All-Star reliever en route to an 11-year career.

Kenley Jansen actually made a minor league All-Star team as a catcher for the Dodgers’ organization, and he caught for the Netherlands in the 2009 World Baseball Classic. But after his offense petered out, the Dodgers made him a pitcher — hey, catcher’s arm and all that — and Jansen, too, was in the big leagues within a year. Fifteen seasons and $151 million later, you’d have to say it worked out.

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Joe Nathan’s story is so classic. The Giants drafted him as a shortstop in 1995, but within a season they asked him to consider converting to pitcher. This suggestion torqued Nathan so completely that he quit the sport, but after a year away from the game, he decided to come back and give it a shot. Nathan went on to become a sensational MLB closer for nearly a decade, and he logged 16 seasons in the bigs before retiring in 2016.

I mean, Bob Lemon. Now we’re in the waay-wayback machine, but consider this: Lemon made the majors in 1941 as an infielder. He was also Cleveland’s Opening Day center fielder in 1946, suggesting that he was already accustomed to the whole versatility concept. Good thing, because later that season the Indians told him he was becoming a full-time pitcher. Lemon went on to fashion a Hall of Fame career on the mound, winning 207 games, winning 20-plus six times, and forming a lethal 1-2 starting pitcher combination with Bob Feller — all despite missing three full seasons while serving in the U.S. Navy during World War II.

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We’re not running Tyler Naquin out there with comparisons to Bob Lemon. But it is actively cool to see anybody at the far end of his career who is still a good enough athlete, with a strong enough arm, for a Major League franchise to even consider putting him on a pitcher’s mound.

This isn’t clown school. It’s also not the far end of a 12-2 game, when your utility infielder guy gets the nod to go chuck some 62 mph batting practice meat to actual MLB hitters so the squad can save a few arms. No, for Naquin, this is a legitimate evaluation. He is in minor league camp, so no favors are being extended. The Guardians just think they might have run into something.

Cleveland had a guy like Naquin very recently, in fact. Anthony Gose, a converted position player, pitched for them on and off from 2021 to 2024. Moreover, the Guardians had Naquin in their outfield back in the day. He has a little history with the club.

Will that be enough? Oh, lord, no. Naquin would have to earn whatever assignment he’d draw. Early in March, with camp settling in, we’re here for every bit of it.